Heartfelt thanks to my friend and colleague Leah Gordon for recommending this wonderful novel! The Rose Code is a remarkable work of historical fiction, focusing primarily on three invented characters—together with a supporting cast of real-life ones, such as Alan… Read More ›
Teaching & Learning
“The Student as Citizen”
Going all the way back to its conception in 2003, the Crimson Summer Academy (CSA) has had a theme for the summer: “The Student as Citizen.” If you look at its public-facing webpage, you will see this statement: “The curriculum… Read More ›
Should “exam schools” exist?
Boston Latin School. Stuyvesant High School. Two of the very finest public schools in the nation. Should they exist? 50 years ago I would have been taken aback by the very question. Of course they should exist! Who would doubt… Read More ›
Should we be teaching applied math in high school?
“Of course we should,” I hear you say. “What good is math if it doesn’t have any read-world applications?” Let me unpack your reply. In one short paragraph it brings up at least half a dozen responses. We’ll discuss a… Read More ›
Looking forward (mostly) to another summer of teaching remotely
Tomorrow I will meet my teaching assistants, and two days later I will meet the students in my class. I am looking forward to both. Actually, there are several errors in that short paragraph: My teaching assistants are actually called… Read More ›
Yikes! Lying with statistics! About COVID! And from Massachusetts officials, no less!
Apparently schools are magical places where kids don’t get COVID. You know, because youth. To prove this, the Mass Department of Public Health has just released this informative graph: Look at the bars. As you can tell from a mere… Read More ›
Kafka on K-12 math education
What, you may wonder, did Franz Kafka have to say about K–12 math education? Probably nothing, you might say to yourself. But you would be wrong. At least according to Ben Orlin. As you know, Kafka’s second-most-famous novel, The Trial,… Read More ›
Goat problems!
No, no, we’re not talking about your pet goat’s behavioral problems. We’re talking about a certain type of math problem—a type of problem to which I used to devote a couple of classes per year when I was teaching Honors… Read More ›
Dana Bullister for City Council!
Normally I don’t endorse political candidates in this blog. But normally my former students don’t run for office! In fact, as far as I know, this is only the 2½th time. Please correct me if I am wrong. Why the… Read More ›
A beautiful abacus set… and it was free! Free is good.
A family giving away their beautiful abacus set! Who could resist? Not me. As you will see in the photos below, we have an authentic Chinese abacus in pristine condition, inside a box in pristine condition, along with an undated… Read More ›
